Just a guy from Jersey and his ramblings

Suppression of Protest, a Catholic value...

2010-09-19T00:46:00.001-04:00

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/09/18/uk.pope.threat/index.html?hpt=T2

Of course they were released. I highly doubt they had any real evidence against them. Christians are the ones who react to their opponents with violence, if anything atheists put up with too much shit without doing anything about it. They just wanted as much as possible to keep those who would protest the Pope off the street. They obviously can't arrest Hitchens or Dawkins so they targeted the less visible enemies of Ratzinger.

They were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000, which allows police to hold them without charge for 28 days.

This is a really scary sentence. I imagine if Ratzinger had his way they'd have arrested every atheist in England and held them for 28 days.

Pope travels in Britain to stick finger in eye of Anglican Church...

2010-09-17T08:33:00.002-04:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/13/AR2010091301631.html?tid=nn_twitter

Why not, he's broken everyone else's rules. Why not break his own?

It's the first time Benedict will celebrate a beatification; under his own rules popes don't beatify, only canonize.

I don't think Benedict cares about the rules. All he cares about is doing what makes him feel good at the time and smiting his enemies.

"His personality and teachings could be a source of inspiration for ecumenism in our times from which all of us can draw,"

Remember, he said it. This is his model for ecumenism. Not common transformation or melding of traditions. Newman converted fully to Catholicism. When the Pope speaks of ecumenism this is what he means. He wants non-Catholics to convert to Catholicism. He wants them to abandon their own traditions. Why anyone outside Catholicism would find that positive or attractive is beyond me.

For many Anglicans, the sight of the pope traveling to Britain with the express aim of beatifying a figure who turned his back on their church will be a bitter one.

That was always Benedict's intention, to stick a finger in the eye of the Anglicans and the English. He has always held a special hatred in his heart for England. First off, it's the home of an offshoot religion that was a thorn in the side of past Popes. Second, it's the current home of many of the leading lights in the atheist movement and also those who have tried to fight his dangerous and murderous actions in the world.

"For him, becoming a Catholic was to become a pariah, to give up all his friends, all his jobs, possessions, and do something that was really difficult," said Jack Valero, the spokesman for Newman's beatification cause. "But he did that because he wanted to follow the truth."

The Church has significant resources and he knew that. He knew they'd take care of him since his conversion served as such a public insult to the Anglican Church. He seems to have done pretty well for himself after his conversion.

"Perhaps Benedict is thinking that Newman is the vehicle that he can use to push the evangelization of the old Europe," said Valero.

"Old Europe" has seen the hateful, outdated lies of Christianity. They've already rejected them. They're not going to suddenly resolve themselves to the slavery of the church just because Benedict digs up some old dead idiot.

But the beatification is controversial, not least because Newman's defection still rankles in the Church of England, a betrayal that represents current and centuries-old fears about Rome.

That's the intention. It's nothing less than a shot across the bow of the Anglican Church. A clear statement that "we're coming to destroy you". The Church of England has every reason to be scared of Rome, they will not be happy until they've completely eradicated the Anglican Church and converted every single Anglican to Catholicism. Any hollow claims of ecumenism are pointed towards this goal.

Thank you Tea Party for your help in November...

2010-09-15T16:47:00.002-04:00

I wonder if the teabaggers realize that they're handing several states to the Dems in November? They're riding high on their victories last night, ignorant of the fact that primaries are always a contest of who can pander the most to their fringe followers (something the tea party candidates excel at). They don't seem to realize that last night wasn't the general election.

Extremists are always rewarded in party primaries since extremists show up far more for primaries/caucuses. The real test will be in November.

Normally, candidates will run to the fringe for the primary and then immediately run to the center for the general election. This is hard enough for a regular candidate, it's going to be nearly impossible for the teapartiers. If you want an example just ask Sharron Angle. She tried to disown some of her more extreme statements from the primary but there's video and screencaps of her website.

Tea party candidates are not able to run to the center like other Republicans do. They owe their entire existence to those extremists, they can't just disown them now that they're the nominees. I personally think they're going to find November isn't nearly as forgiving as the summer was.

They could very well have handed several seats to the Democrats (Nevada, Alaska, Delaware, NY Governor, etc...) that would have otherwise been easy Republican wins. The Nevada Senate seat was all but ripe for the Republicans to take. Harry Reid is hardly popular among the conservative population of Nevada. He was losing to generic Republican candidate in polls. Now that Angle is there, he's suddenly looking a lot safer for reelection. Same thing in Delaware. Mike Castle would have coasted to victory easily, now the Republicans have all but conceded the seat since O'Donnell has no chance of winning (Delaware isn't Alaska and it's not Alabama). Alaska may still go Republican despite the lunatic they've put forward as their nominee for the Senate (they did elect Palin after all) but it's far less likely than it would have been if the incumbent had won the primary.

Republicans love the tea parties because they think it's a way to excite their base and win elections, they may find that the power displayed in the primaries doesn't hold up when every American gets to vote.

Bigotry...

2010-07-28T16:40:00.001-04:00

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/07/28/court-university-expel-student-opposes-homosexuality/

I can see both sides of this argument. That being said, I absolutely agree with this decision. The school years are a fragile period in any child's life, even more so for a child who is or thinks they might be gay. The last thing a kid who is questioning his sexuality needs is a counselor who is anything but supportive and non-judgmental. Having a counselor tell a kid in this state that he's a sinner and is going to hell could very well lead to serious consequences for the child including suicide.

Not that any of this matters since we all know the Supremes will take up this case and they will overturn the ruling.

Abortion...

2010-04-29T00:43:00.001-04:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/28/us/28abortion.html?src=twt&twt=nytimes

It's unfortunate that in this country, a country where abortion is supposed to be legal, so many states seem to think they can restrict that right with impunity. I wonder how many women sit in the Oklahoma Legislature, I'd bet not too many. Most of the idiots so adamant about this bill will never have to worry about having an abortion. They'll never have to worry about being raped and then having to sit through a lecture from a male gynecologist telling them about the fetus' legs and arms while their rapist is essentially allowed to abuse them again by proxy. This is nothing but state sponsored abuse of women designed to guilt them into making a decision that is against their own interest. It's disgusting.

The second part is equally bad. Not only is a woman forced to endure a anti-choice lecture from a doctor before exercising her rights, she also can be lied to by her own doctor if that doctor doesn't agree with her rights. This is unimaginable in any other context but somehow anti-choice zealots feel they can do this to women. I would like to think that this law will be easily struck down the second it reaches the Supreme Court, it is unconstitutional after all by any measure of precedent, but I know better than that. There are enough right-wingers on the Court, with enough disdain for the Constitution and precedent, that I think it far more likely it'll be upheld.

I guess the moral of this story is that any woman of child bearing age better choose her gynecologist well and make sure that you know exactly how he feels about your rights because otherwise you might find him making decisions for you that you can't live with.

Keep Him Busy...

2010-04-24T00:16:00.000-04:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/23/glenn-beck-liberty_n_549723.html

Good, I for one think it's a great idea for him to give the speech there. Anyone who goes to Liberty University is already so far gone that one speech from Glenn Beck isn't going to change their opinions one bit, he's preaching to the choir, they already drank the kool-aid as it were. This provides one less opportunity for him to preach his gospel of hatred to those who are still capable of being saved from right-wing ideology. One less opportunity for him to corrupt someone on the fence. Glenn Beck's speech at Liberty will not change anyone's mind and will not create one more right-wing lunatic teabagger, of that we should be happy.

Crocodile Tears...

2010-04-19T11:17:00.001-04:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8628244.stm

Evidently Ratzinger thinks he can get out of this with a few fake tears for the victims and some pretend empathy. I really hope he's wrong but he's gotten out of scandals before.

Playing with fire...

2010-04-13T16:24:00.000-04:00

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/news_details/article/62/2010/april/12/okla-tea-parties-and-lawmakers-envision-militia.html

Yeah, this sounds like a great idea. Get a bunch of teabaggers together and act like they're a real military unit with the authority to challenge the government, nothing bad could come of that.

Frustrated by recent political setbacks, tea party leaders and some conservative members of the Oklahoma Legislature say they would like to create a new volunteer militia to help defend against what they believe are improper federal infringements on state sovereignty.

Anybody else starting to notice that this country is looking less and less like America? This kind of shit, starting an armed group and committing violent acts because a democratic election didn't go your way, is what happens in other parts of the world. It's not supposed to happen in America.

Even the proponents say they don't know how an armed force would be organized nor how a state-based militia could block federal mandates.

Yes, that would appear to be a flaw in their plans...unless of course they actually intend to shoot federal agents.

"It's not a far-right crazy plan or anything like that," Berry said. "This would be done with the full cooperation of the state Legislature."

But it is a "far-right crazy plan", it's just that the Legislature of Oklahoma is full of far-right crazies.

State militias clearly are constitutionally authorized,

Yeah, and every state has one, it's called the National Guard.

said Glenn Reynolds, a law professor at the University of Tennessee and an expert on the Second Amendment.

And a far-right wing crazy. And an extremely anti-Obama conservative blogger. You forgot to mention that.

Democratic Gov. Brad Henry's communications director Paul Sund also discounted the militia discussion, saying the National Guard handles state emergencies and security.

Yes, but what you don't realize is that they don't want a group to "handle state emergencies and security." They want a group to shoot US soldiers and federal agents in cold blood when they try to enforce federal laws. They're afraid they wouldn't be able to get the Nat'l Guard to do that. It's much easier to raise a group of whackos with no honor and no brains than it is to convince professional soldiers with honor and loyalty to their country to go against their oaths.

2010-01-29T23:54:00.001-05:00

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-rutten30-2010jan30,0,2358302.column
http://money.cnn.com/2010/01/29/news/companies/mancrunch_ad_super_bowl/index.htm?cnn=yes&hpt=T2

So an ad about a dating service is too controversial because it's involves gay men but an ad that suggests that women who have abortions are horrible murderers whose children would have all grown up to be super star football players is just fine? This is a fucked up country.

Right-wingers are all up in arms with false indignation because they claim that pro-choice people are attacking this ad for no reason. Nobody cares that this woman took considerable risk upon herself, with very little chance of success or survival for her or her son. That was her choice, we're all pro-choice. The problem comes when you air an ad designed to suggest that all women should take that same risk upon themselves. She got lucky but what they don't acknowledge is that millions of women would die (along with their fetuses) if abortion wasn't an option. No doubt many women have died because they were convinced that God wanted them to go through with the hopeless pregnancy. They can dress it up whatever way they want, this isn't some feel good ad about a happy family, it's an attack on every women who has made that difficult choice.

I wouldn't have so much of a problem with the ad if they hadn't denied the dating site ad, or if there weren't a long history of rejecting "controversial" Super Bowl ads (only, it seems, when they're liberal ads). The fact that they're essentially saying that Focus on the Family's hate group money is greener than the dating site's money is the major problem. The anti-gay bias involved in this decision becomes even clearer when you look at the Snicker's ad from last year with the two men inadvertently kissing because of a Snicker's bar and then going to elaborate ends to beat the shit out of each other. I guess it's ok to show two men getting close as long as there's some sort of violence involved so the kids don't forget that being gay is a horrible, horrible thing. We'd hate for them to learn tolerance after all.

I hope he never sees freedom again...

2010-01-29T23:24:00.000-05:00

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/1/28/830334/-Roeder-Trial:-Jury-Will-Not-Be-Allowed-to-Consider-Voluntary-Manslaughter?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos%29&utm_content=Twitter

I don't see what differences witnesses would make to his defense. He's admitted killing the guy. His defense is that Tiller deserved it. Since Tiller was performing a completely legal, highly needed, service that argument falls flat on its face regardless of how many loonie radical anti-choicers you bring in to whine about the "babies".

Scott Roeder, admitted killer of Dr. George Tiller, took the stand today, the only witness for the defense after the judge refused to allow former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline to testify on Roeder's behalf. Kline was expected to testify that he had gathered evidence that Dr. Tiller was performing illegal abortions, even though Dr. Tiller was tried and acquitted of all such charges.

Figures that that ass would try to get Roeder off for murder. All he cares about is his ideological hatred. He tried, and failed, for years to make any charge stick to Tiller. I'm sure he danced a merry jig when he found out Tiller was dead. It disgusts me that there are people like this out there, who are supposed to be enforcing the laws and taking care of the people, who instead try to enforce their hateful "morals" on an unwilling populace.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/28/kansas.abortion.roeder.verdict/index.html?hpt=Sbin

It's not surprising that this was the verdict, or that it came down so quickly. Roeder's absurd defense couldn't even gain traction in Kansas.

Crusaders...

2010-01-18T17:21:00.001-05:00

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/01/us_trijicon_rifle_scopes_in_iraq_and_afghanistan_f.php

And we wonder why they hate us...

Trojan Horse...

2010-01-18T17:18:00.002-05:00

http://www.bluejersey.com/diary/14194/tornoes-take-on-christie-schundler-and-the-signal-sent-to-teachers-unions

Putting Schundler in the Education Commissioner position is akin to Bush putting John Bolton in the UN Ambassador position. Schundler will gut the department, he will interfere with the schooling of children, and at the end of the day he'll destroy what makes NJ's education system one of the best in the nation. I weep for the children in schools right now with this parasite set to have so much power over their futures.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day...

2010-01-18T17:18:00.001-05:00

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant. –Martin Luther King Jr. Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, Dec. 10, 1964

"I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law." -Martin Luther King Jr.

Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it. -MLK Jr.

Sad...

2010-01-12T20:21:00.000-05:00

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/12/world/AP-CB-Haiti-Earthquake.html?_r=2&hp

I hope they're wrong about how many people died, they're saying "thousands of people", that's a lot on such a small island.

Concern trolling...

2010-01-04T15:09:00.002-05:00

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/12/31/new-years-resolutions-for-obama-from-karl-rove/

I'm sure Karl Rove really has the best interests of Barack Obama in mind in making these suggestions. More likely he just wants Obama to do everything the Republicans want for the next 3 years. He'll still run attack ads against him in 2012 though saying he's to the left of Pol Pot.

2010-01-04T15:09:00.001-05:00

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2010/01/03/kean-unsuccessful-bomber-probably-did-us-a-favor/#more-83784

Kean is such a Republican shill. Why does anyone still act like he's some sort of moderate. His opinion on Obama shouldn't matter any more than any other Republican.

Kean said Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian who failed in his attempt to set off an explosive on an airplane about to land in Detroit, “probably did us a favor.”

Why is it that Republicans always seem to think terrorism is a good thing? Can you imagine if Joe Biden had said this?

“We had an administration which was not focused, as it should be, on terrorism and that’s understandable,” Kean said. “They were focused on health care and global warming and the economy. That’s very understandable. Secondly, we weren’t really focused on Yemen and the terrible things that are happening there. Now we are and that’s a good thing. And, thirdly, there were holes obviously and the [intelligence gathering] system wasn’t working well. We found out it wasn’t working well and the president understands it’s not working well and now we’re focused on fixing it.”

Unlike Bush, Obama is perfectly able to multi-task. Obama wasn't ignoring terrorism but you're never going to catch every terrorist no matter how hard you try.

Not the smartest move for a wanted cop killer...

2009-12-01T11:04:00.001-05:00

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/12/01/washington.suspect.shot/index.html

I can't say I feel sorry for the guy. The last thing you should do when you're wanted by cops is to be uncooperative. Those cops had no reason to want him alive.

I'm glad the whole thing is over. Now if only Mike Huckabee had not let this guy out of prison... I think this might just be ol' Mike's Willie Horton moment.

Fail...

2009-10-13T22:39:00.001-04:00

http://mediamatters.org/blog/200910130041

Glad to see that the NFL isn't going to allow Rush to destroy a team for the sake of his ego. It would have been nice though to have one less team to worry about in the postseason.

Idiots...

2009-08-10T14:55:00.001-04:00

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/08/dont_need_to_be_a_rocket_scientist.php

Conservatives really are completely divorced from reality. Where exactly do they think Stephen Hawking lives?

Hypocrite...

2009-08-10T14:13:00.000-04:00

http://www.sunjournal.com/node/101863

Pope Benedict XVI strongly criticized atheism in a major document released Friday, saying it had led to some of the "greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice" ever known.

The Pope accusing atheists of causing some of the "greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice" takes some balls. The Papacy is responsible for the most violent acts of religious repression, the most horrible crimes against humanity, the worst violations of human rights ever experienced on earth. Most of the horrible torture methods in practice to this day were invented by the Church in an effort to find ever more painful ways of punishing Jews and non-Catholics.

Stupidity...

2009-08-08T23:32:00.000-04:00

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/8/8/763586/-Idiot-Nation,-Idiot-Press

Has Palin never had private insurance? They don't care if you get care or not, in fact they benefit by denying you care. There are many examples of private insurance companies denying people care right up until their death despite that person paying for their insurance all their lives. I would much rather have a government bureaucrat handling my case unencumbered by profit requirements or corporate boards than I would a private insurance company employee who only cares about how much he can stiff you in order to give the CEO a bigger bonus and give the shareholders a bigger dividend.

Pathetic...

2009-07-09T00:17:00.001-04:00

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20090708_Phila__camp_alleges_racism_at_Montco_swim_club.html

It's disgusting that this is happening in 2009, in Southeast Pennsylvania which is supposed to be rational progressive country. Very little has changed in this country.

Grasping...

2009-06-29T09:24:00.000-04:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/28/AR2009062802436.html

What bullcrap. She's not the hero in all this. If anyone's a hero here, it's the media which didn't buy Sanford's staff's lies and dug up the truth about where he was. Sanford's wife enabled him just like everyone else. She knew, or should have known, he wasn't hiking the Appalachian Trail but instead of saying that she plead ignorance and said she didn't know where he was. She knew about the affair months ago and yet she didn't leave him, she hasn't even left him now that it's been made clear he continued the affair after she told him to break it off. She will probably never leave him and I don't consider that the least bit heroic. I know it's hard to find an example of a strong woman in the Republican Party, Republican men don't exactly value women for their brains, but give me a break.

Life of the Party...

2009-06-26T19:32:00.000-04:00

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/26/from-the-white-house-files-a-fight-over-michael-jackson/

John Roberts would have been 29 in 1984. He must have been fun at parties...

Even then he was evidently a huge stick in the mud.

Double Standard...

2009-06-20T12:53:00.001-04:00

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/19/sotomayor.womens.club/index.html

It's absurd that she is being forced to resign from the organization. The organization only exists in the first place because the all-men's club wouldn't accept women. Considering every Republican President for almost 100 years has belonged to the all-male club, I wonder how many male Supreme Court justices also belong. It's quite ironic though that she's being criticized by Republicans for belonging to a gender specific club that sprang up as a response to a gender specific club that most well connected Republicans belong to. I wonder if Jeff Sessions, the former judicial nominee who was Bork'd for being a racist and is now the ranking Republican in the Senate Judiciary Committee, belongs to the Bohemian Grove.

(Oxy)moron...

2009-06-11T11:12:00.000-04:00

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/06/11/responsible-white-separatist/

Setting aside for a second the oxymoron that is "responsible white separatist community", this is just more political posturing by a community that's been courting violence for decades. The leadership of organizations like this always tries to distance itself from the whackos who turn their rhetoric into violence but in the end the leadership is just as responsible as the one who does the act. We see this with the anti-choice leadership as well when abortion providers are killed. They advocate violence with their rhetoric, compare the targets with Nazis and say they're perpetrating a holocaust, and then when one of their sheep kills someone they swear they had nothing to do with it. The same is true with the white supremacist/separatist community. You can't spend centuries making the worst claims about a group of people and then claim ignorance when someone decides to do something about it.

Confusion...

2009-06-10T22:23:00.000-04:00

http://www.freshconservative.com/Fresh_Conservative/Fresh_Conservative/Entries/2009/6/10_Holocaust_Museum_Shooter_Was_Left_Wing_Radical.html

Somebody needs to give this guy a refresher course in the left-right political spectrum because I think he's confused.

Conspiracy theorists are by and large usually right-wingers since those conspiracies usually have a healthy amount of "the government is always wrong" thrown in for good effect.

"Freeman" white supremacists are certainly not liberals. They think that non-whites should be removed from this country. They also have an unhealthy hatred/fear of the government.

Anti-Semites that think that Jews control the financial system, hate the Federal Reserve Bank, think that black people are inferior to whites and post on Free Republic to almost universal approval are not liberals.

The worst part is that this douche is using this to try to explain away the very real threat of violence from the right-wing, this episode very much included, and allow his followers (all of whom will eat this shit up) to pat themselves on the back and say "at least we're not those damn liberals shooting up museums" all the while still supporting the idiots who commit this type of violence.

Seriously though, no person with a working knowledge of politics and a working brain could possibly look at this guy's views and label him a liberal. There are plenty of whackos on the left, though our whackos are relegated to the far fringes while the right-wing ones have radio and television shows and get to meet the President, but none of what this guy did even approaches the views of those fringe radicals.

A Pattern is Developing...

2009-06-10T18:17:00.000-04:00

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/10/museum.shooting/index.html

This is such a sad story. It turns out the shooter was an 88 year old man with a long history of right-wing, anti-Semitic and anti-government violence. He evidently attempted to kidnap the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in the 80s. He only served 6 years for that crime. Now he's killed a man who was only doing his job. It's a good thing the security reacted quickly and stopped him before he could get to an occupied part of the building. Many more than that one brave guard would have died if that would have happened.

It deeply scares and saddens me the increased level of violence coming from the right-wing in recent months. It seems to get worse and worse. This is an entire movement devoted to nothing but hate and violence. I have no doubt this isn't the last we'll hear from these people.

The Straw...

2009-06-10T18:11:00.000-04:00

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/06/10/prejean.dethroned/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

It's about time she was removed. If she wasn't a darling of the extreme right-wing she would have been dethroned when she pulled this shit the first time. Because of her connection with the same people shooting up museums and doctors' offices, she was given a pass the first time. I guess this time they figured they should do something. I can't think of another legitimate job where you can refuse to show up and keep your job. I guess she figured that now that she's got her new job as right-wing hate bitch she didn't need the pageant anymore. After all, even though she lost the national pageant, I bet nobody can name the woman who beat her.

Terrorism...

2009-06-09T15:24:00.001-04:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/us/10abortion.html?_r=2&hp

This was the point of the whole thing after all. The anti-choice movement knows exactly what it's doing. This is exactly why laws like RICO should be used to prosecute anti-choicers who move from peaceful methods towards violence. The law may have been designed to prosecute the Mafia but in a lot of ways, the anti-choice leadership is acting like the Mafia. They're using violence, and the unending threat of violence, to force legal medical providers out of business. Even the "non-violent" protesters benefit from the violent ones since those inside the clinics know all too well that any one of those people running around outside with snuff films of dead fetuses could throw a bomb or pull a gun at any moment. It makes it a bit hard to run a business.

I can't blame the family, nobody can be expected to willingly risk their life. War has been declared and the pro-choice movement is completely unprepared because we don't practice violence. The worst part is that the women who most need abortions are going to be the ones to suffer the most, women who mostly wanted to have a baby but found out late in the pregnancy that the fetus was going to die or their life was seriously threatened. These women only had 3 options and now they only have 2. Soon, it will probably be just 1 and then none as the remaining two doctors are either attacked themselves or quit out of fear for their families.

This is the very definition of terrorism. I don't see why our government, especially now that there's a pro-choice President, doesn't treat these people accordingly. Randall Terry should be stewing in Guantanamo right now and learning just how serious waterboarding really is.

Concerned...

2009-06-05T12:56:00.001-04:00

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/06/05/steele-sotomayor-white-male/

Wow, Steele is really worried about keeping his jobs. He's a real hero for standing up for the downtrodden white male. They're such a persecuted group. Give me a break.

So I guess if a white male is in mortal danger by going before Justice Sotomayor, then minority women are at an equal amount of peril going before the four Catholic male, and three white Catholic male, justices...oh wait, I guess they are. This argument that Sotomayor will side against white males just because she's a Hispanic female is racist, sexist and just plain stupid. Nobody argues that white male judges can't make decisions affecting other groups and yet they make that argument all the time about minorities and females (at least liberal ones, conservatives like Thomas get a pass from the establishment).

I wonder if Steele is equally concerned about non-immigrant minorities chances against Samuel Alito given this?

That word doesn't mean what you think it does...

2009-06-05T12:36:00.001-04:00

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/06/05/sotomayor.sessions/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

"You will get a fair hearing before this committee,"

I'll believe that when I see it. It's already been made clear that Sessions will do whatever it takes to advance the Republican agenda regardless of its negative effect on this nation. I have no doubt he'll try something to derail her nomination.

President Reagan nominated Sessions to be a federal judge, but the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected him 23 years ago this week.

Which, as you'll see, was the right decision.

"It was not a pleasant event, I got to tell you. It was really so heartbreaking to me," Sessions said.

It was such an injustice that they didn't confirm another racist to the federal bench.

His nomination to be a U.S. District Court judge was troubled from the start because of controversy surrounding his prosecution of civil rights activists for voting fraud.

How dare they question why he tried to throw civil rights activists in jail for registering blacks to vote? That was a common tactic among the racist governments of the south during the civil rights era.

Sessions' fate was sealed after Democrats called several witnesses who accused him of a pattern of racial insensitivity -- including calling a black lawyer "boy" and civil rights groups such as the NAACP "un-American."

That's not hard to believe. These are pretty good reasons not to confirm someone to a position of power. Evidently the people of Alabama don't care about this kind of record. Hell, they might consider it a plus.

"That was not fair. That was not accurate. Those were false charges and distortions of anything that I did, and it really was not. I never had those kinds of views, and I was caricatured in a way that was not me," Sessions said.

Nobody ever admits to doing these things. Even people who think they are correct to do such things know in their hearts that it's wrong and they should not admit to it.

The parallel to today, with conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh labeling Sotomayor a racist, is eerie.

No, it isn't. It's not even close. Trying to draw a parallel between the honest concern about Sessions record and the completely baseless and political charges against Sotomayor is borderline racist in itself. The charges coming from the likes of Limbaugh and Gingrich are being leveled for purely political reasons. The Senate had an obligation to investigate the charges against Sessions and came to the right conclusion when they found out the charges were credible.

She ruled for some cases that might be called affirmative action in which one group may have prevailed over another group and I think that raises questions.

Affirmative Action is not racism. It's certainly not comparable to the aggressive, and sometimes murderous, tactics used by law enforcement and government officials against civil rights activists.

Because he is the lead Republican on the committee holding Sotomayor's confirmation hearings, Sessions will have a big role in setting the tone of the opposition.

It is quite ironic that someone who was denied a position on the federal bench for acts of racism would now be in a position to derail someone else's nomination for the federal bench for racist reasons. I mean really, aren't there enough white Catholic males on the bench for them? Is one minority woman really too much for them?

A Movement Full of Killers...

2009-05-31T18:11:00.000-04:00

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/05/31/kansas.doctor.killed/index.html

I guess the anti-choice movement finished what they started in 1993. There was a period where it seemed this movement had abandoned violence. I guess they figured they were going to stop women's rights without violence. Now that we have a strongly pro-choice President, I guess they're back to old tricks. Don't believe the claims from the anti-women's lives crowd when they say they're horrified by this crime. They express sadness on the outside while rejoicing on the inside. They tried to kill him 16 years ago, they've been trying for years to imprison him for saving women's lives. They'll be throwing parties in Kansas and Washington, DC and anywhere where anti-choice leaders gather.

A /= B

2009-05-28T12:08:00.003-04:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/28/us/politics/28abortion.html?hp

I do not see how the columnist who wrote this story looks at these cases and determines that Sotomayor is some sort of stealth anti-choicer. First he mentions that she agreed that women, as well as men, who faced forced abortions in China should be granted asylum. Even the most rabid pro-choice zealot doesn't believe women should be forced to have abortions. That doesn't mean she's going to turn around and say that women who want abortions should be denied. That's a strawman argument (legalized abortion=forced abortion) that the right-wing has been throwing around for years. Obviously, she should have to give her opinion on this case since it is the most important issue likely to come before the court but I wouldn't worry about it. Obama isn't going to nominate someone who is hostile to women's rights.

But in his briefing to reporters on Tuesday, the White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, was asked whether Mr. Obama had asked Judge Sotomayor about abortion or privacy rights. Mr. Gibbs replied that Mr. Obama “did not ask that specifically.”

Every President says that because they don't want to be accused of having an abortion litmus test for judicial nominees. Bush said the same thing and we all know how his nominees turned out. Obama may not have asked that question directly but I'm sure he's just as aware of Sotomayor's Roe bonafides as Bush was of Alito and Roberts.

In a 2004 case, she largely sided with some anti-abortion protesters who wanted to sue some police officers for allegedly violating their constitutional rights by using excessive force to break up demonstrations at an abortion clinic. Judge Sotomayor said the protesters deserved a day in court.

So because she sided with defendants against police brutality she must be anti-choice? So if Alito sides with a pro-choice CEO against his minimum wage workers does that make Alito pro-choice? Maybe she just doesn't like police brutality.

Judge Sotomayor’s decision turned on a technicality, her opinion described in detail the woman’s account of how she would be persecuted in China because she had once permitted the escape of a woman who was seven months pregnant and scheduled for a forced abortion. In China, to allow such an escape was a crime, the woman said.

Again, pro-choice /= pro-forced abortion. Chinese abortion laws have nothing to do with a woman's right to choose and everything to do with the government's desire to control every aspect of peoples' lives (sounds like a religion) and the fact that China is suffering a population crisis and they can't come up with a better solution.

Phillip Jauregui, president of the conservative Judicial Action Group, said he was not convinced by any anti-abortion overtones to such rulings because, he said, even “the most radical feminist” would object to forcing women to abort wanted pregnancies.

See, even the anti-choice whackos admit it.

Mr. Waldman of BeliefNet.com also noted that Judge Sotomayor was raised Roman Catholic, although there are many judges who do not follow the church’s dogma — like opposing abortion and the death penalty — in their jurisprudence.

Because of course all Roman Catholics, even ones who can only be described as being "raised Roman Catholic", follow everything that asshole in a dress in Rome says...except of course for when they don't...

Moreover, he said, it is significant that as a group, Hispanics include a higher percentage of abortion opponents than many other parts of the Democratic Party’s coalition. Judge Sotomayor’s parents moved from Puerto Rico.

And of course while white people, and even specific groups like Irish, are unique and hold varying opinions on a number of issues, Hispanics are monolithic (despite being made up of many very different groups and cultures) and believe exactly the same things about everything.

“At the very least, she grew up in a culture that didn’t hold the pro-life position in contempt,” Mr. Waldman said.

Last I checked the culture she grew up in was America. Her parents are from Puerto Rico, not Paraguay. Just because the anti-choice crowd views the pro-choice movement as little more than murderers and sluts doesn't mean we have the same rigid, unthinking orthodoxy when it comes to them.

Obama's Choice for Supreme Court...

2009-05-26T14:20:00.001-04:00

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/05/26/supreme.court/index.html

I think Sotomayor is a great choice. Her judicial record is excellent, according to the White House she has more judicial experience than any Supreme Court Justice has had when they were nominated. The right-wingers will claim she's an activist judge or she was only nominated because she's Hispanic and female, and they'll simply overlook her long history on the bench, and that will be unfortunate. I hope she will win even with this absurd opposition. I guess they would have opposed anyone Obama put forward so it's good he went with someone good instead of capitulating and nominating a right-winger who they would oppose anyway just out of tradition. It's great that he is nominating a Hispanic (the first) and a woman (the third in history and one of only two on a 9 person court) but it's also good he nominated someone with actual experience who is qualified in her own right.

Equal Rights...

2009-05-26T14:19:00.001-04:00

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/05/26/california.same.sex.marriage/index.html

So much for equal rights under the law. Can you imagine if people had been allowed to vote on Civil Rights for women or African Americans? I bet the Falwells and Robertsons of the world are kicking themselves for not thinking of this in the 50s. They could have gotten resolutions on the ballot in every state in the nation forbidding mixed race marriages or desegregation. We'd still be sorting out the bloody mess. People should not be allowed to vote on whether their neighbor is entitled to Civil Rights. Public opinion always lags behind progress, if this had been allowed 50 or 100 years ago, women and blacks still wouldn't have the right to vote in certain states (and quite possibly the entire nation if the racists/sexists had tried to put through a federal constitutional amendment like they're trying with gay marriage).

Liberty University Stifles Student Speech...

2009-05-22T14:12:00.002-04:00

http://www.newsadvance.com/lna/news/local/article/lu_pulls_plug_on_democratic_club/16172

Far more surprising than Liberty University's predictable stifling of student speech is the fact that there was a Democratic Club on the Liberty University campus in the first place. What Democrat in his/her right mind would want to get anywhere near that useless institution? Next you're going to tell me Bob Jones University has a chapter of the Black Panthers.

AIPAC...

2009-05-18T11:38:00.001-04:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mj-rosenberg/will-congress-back-bibi-o_b_204328.html

So now AIPAC is not only trying to unfairly influence American policy to benefit a foreign power, and destroying the reputations of people who dare to disagree with Israel, they're also writing letters for Congressmen to sign telling Obama to stop trying to bring peace to the Middle East. I guess they figure if the US turns a blind eye, they can solve the Palestinian problem once and for all (hint: It doesn't involve giving them their own state). I'm guessing their desire for the US to "Butt out" doesn't extend to the arms that we sell to Israel so they can kill innocent civilians. I'm sure they want the US to continue those shipments. Just don't dare question what they're doing with those weapons.

Right-wing Conservative Whackos Protest Notre Dame Commecement...

2009-05-17T13:44:00.001-04:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/22605

It’s not just the few dozen graduates boycotting Obama’s 20-minute commencement address to protest his support for abortion rights and embryonic stem-cell research.

Wow, a few dozen out of a graduating class that probably numbers in the thousands. What a controversy.

Or the bus loads of protestors driving in from Milwaukee, Chicago and Detroit, activists who might never have voted for Obama in the first place.

Many of whom probably aren't even Catholic and are just bitter because their guy lost.

His stance helped him win over more religious Catholics, too, who liked his policies on issues such as the economy and health care, and saw him as moderate enough on abortion that they were comfortable supporting him.

Everybody knew where Obama stood on abortion. The Republicans beat that horse to death for almost the entirety of last year.

But some of Obama’s policy decisions and appointments since take office have upset some in the anti-abortion community

Everyone knew that Obama would repeal the Mexico City Policy, if you didn't see that coming you weren't paying attention. The Catholics who voted for him knew what he would do. Most of them are probably pro-choice anyway.

The demonstrations will greet Obama almost as soon as he arrives on campus. Organizers say there will be a picket line near the entrance of Notre Dame, so anybody who gets off the interstate will see it. Already, airplanes have been carrying banners featuring aborted babies, and trucks doubling as billboards targeting Obama on abortion have been doing loops around the campus. Some protestors have been arrested.

Sure, that's a great way to make your point. Show gory pictures of dead fetuses that would make a serial killer blush and disturb the peace of an entire neighborhood. Do they realize that this is why most Americans view them as dangerous extremists and creeps?

“A commencement should not be a political arena,” explained Mary Daly, a Notre Dame graduate who is leading the student boycott. “It’s not the place for a dialogue.”

So instead you're going to hold an alternative commencement that concentrates solely on a political issue? You're the ones politicizing the commencement.

But Obama’s support has dropped among certain groups, including white Catholics who attend mass regularly, according to Greg Smith, a research fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life. In February, two-thirds of white Catholics who attend mass every week approved of his job performance, and now less than half do, Smith said.

So if you ignore the huge amount of minority Catholics, and the majority of Catholics who don't attend mass every Sunday, he's hugely unpopular. And if you only poll white Southerners with hoods and Confederate flags in their pickup trucks, Obama is the least popular President since Lincoln.

Obama also comes to Notre Dame as a new Gallup poll found that for the first time, the majority of Americans are anti-abortion.

Everybody's jumping on this poll to suggest that abortion is suddenly unpopular. When you have polls going back years showing general support and then you suddenly have a result that deviates sharply from the statistical norm, you throw away the outlier. That's how statistics works. The question was rigged to get this desired result (if I went out there and asked "do you support laws that would force pregnant women to go to prison, and possibly die, if they seek an abortion" I could get a large majority of respondents to say they support abortion too). Also, considering that the number of Republicans in this country has decreased significantly in the past several years, due to the disaster they have made of this country, it's likely that Gallup oversampled Republicans in their poll since they generally try to get a certain number of Dems and a certain number of Reps for each poll.

16 years after Casey’s father, the former Pennsylvania governor, was denied a convention speech.

I'm getting sick of hearing this same old lie. They've been telling this lie for almost 20 years. He was denied a speech because he refused to endorse Bill Clinton, not because of his position on abortion. Would the Republicans have invited a speaker to their convention who didn't endorse the Republican candidate?

“There’s a lot of buyer’s remorse growing out there,” said Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center

Brent Bozell hardly represents the majority of Catholics. He's a member of a fringe conservative Catholic group. I can guarantee you he didn't vote for Obama in the first place.

“The anger is growing,” he said. “And the sense of outrage is growing because people are seeing the Obama administration picking unnecessary fights and challenging Catholics to political duels.”

It's not picking unnecessary fights, it's doing his job. No group should have a veto on Presidential decisions just so their feelings aren't hurt.

Bozell won’t be voicing his protest at Notre Dame. But for those who are, like Stanek, the more immediate goal is “to make Barack Obama radioactive on any Catholic college campus,” she said.

Despite the media's attempt to portray it otherwise, Obama is still insanely popular among Catholics. According to a poll cited in this very article, 2/3s of respondents who expressed a preference thought Notre Dame was right to invite him. Those Catholics who voted for Obama knew exactly what they were getting and those who didn't don't matter. Obama shouldn't change everything about himself to satisfy a small fringe minority that will never vote for him no matter what he does.

Wrong Decision...

2009-05-17T12:11:00.001-04:00

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000003119332

I like Menendez, I voted for him and I think he's generally a terrific Senator but he's completely wrong here. I know he's playing to a rabid demographic in this case. I know he feels he has to pander to their bitterness to win elections. At some point though you have to stop pandering and start doing what's right. We have been torturing the Cuban people for decades now and we haven't hurt Castro at all. We're not going to change the government of Cuba, that's obvious. The only thing we're doing is hurting the regular people who share none of the blame for the situation in their country. If the OAS wants to admit Cuba, they should. We shouldn't keep playing the same old games of the Bush Administration, threatening supposedly independent organizations with money in order to accomplish our selfish goals.

Obsession...

2009-05-07T23:49:00.001-04:00

What is the deal with the right-wing's obsession with Obama's choice of condiments? Aren't there more important things in the world than what the President gets on his burger? For the record, Grey Poupon is made by Kraft Foods, the same company that makes the Mac and Cheese, how much more American can you get? Is there some rule I've not heard of that dictates that you must get ketchup and mild mustard or you lose your citizenship?

Ego...

2009-05-04T19:23:00.001-04:00

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/101490-source-favre-cant-stand-green-bay?cnn=yes

Wow, way to burn bridges. He could have been a hero for all time in Green Bay if he just knew when to quit. Instead, he kept swearing he was going to retire and then going back on his word. Every year he did this. Finally, the Packers had enough and told him he couldn't keep stringing them along. Then he went to the Jets where he spent a mediocre year not getting anywhere. If he does get onto another team he'll probably just end up embarrassing himself. Now he's going to be hated forever in Green Bay, especially if he comes back on another NFC North team, and New Jersey isn't exactly going to be lining up to worship him. He went from one of the greatest and most beloved football players to a heel that nobody likes all because he couldn't quite while he was ahead.

Filibuster...

2009-05-01T01:07:00.001-04:00

It looks like David Souter is going to retire from the Supreme Court soon. I wish it could have been one of the conservatives. I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for Obama's eventual nominee to be confirmed. The Republicans are going to filibuster no matter who he names, they're already planning for it I'm sure. They're going to make Strom Thurmond look like an amateur. All the bullcrap they pulled out when Bush's radical nominees were being held up will go right out the window. Back then, they were insisting that the nominees should be rubber stamped with no questions. Now all of a sudden they'll decide that things need to be held up, presumably just long enough that they can get a Republican in the White House or Obama just gives up and re-nominates Bork. A few years ago, the filibuster was a horrible tool that the Democrats were using to destroy the country, anyone want to guess how quickly they'll abandon that belief?

Interesting...

2009-04-28T12:12:00.001-04:00

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/28/republican-senator-to-switch-to-the-democratic-party/

Wow, if this is true it's huge. He'd better start mending ties with labor if he wants to win. The last thing we need is Pat Toomey as Senator from Pennsylvania.

Racism is Alive And Well...

2009-04-25T16:13:00.000-04:00

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/25/texas-center-supreme-court-battle-voting-rights/

The community of Canyon Creek was ranchland rich with limestone and cedar trees when Jim Crow held sway in the South. The first house wasn't built until the late 1980s and not even a hint of discrimination attaches to this little slice in suburbia.

The people of Canyon Creek didn't sprout from the ground. They moved there from other places. They're not clean of the taint of racism that infests their state.

President Obama won more than 48 percent of the vote in November in this overwhelmingly white community northwest of the state capital.

Which means he lost that community. I don't see how this disproves racism.

Much has changed across the South and elsewhere in the country, not least of which is Obama's election, Gregory Coleman, the district's lawyer, has told the court.

Not a single state in the Deep South voted for Obama. The states covered by this law are covered for a reason. They can't use the fact that those of us in the rational parts of the US overruled them to argue that they should no longer be kept in check.

"It's insulting to me to be accused of having a racial bias just because you live in Texas," said Zimmerman, an engineer.

Then change your state. Don't blame us for pointing out the obvious. When your Governor and at least one of your Representatives is threatening secession because the US elected a black President you can't claim that racism has been eliminated.

Evidence amassed at congressional hearings showed that hundreds of discriminatory proposals were rejected by the Justice Department or withdrawn when government lawyers raised questions.

They bury this, proof that the law is still necessary, right at the bottom.

Selective Amnesia...

2009-04-21T17:45:00.000-04:00

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/21/mccain-demands-white-house-apology/

Has John McCain already forgotten Timothy McVeigh? He was a veteran of the first Gulf War, where some said he took particular pleasure in shooting Arabs, and decided to blow up hundreds of his fellow citizens. Nobody is suggesting that all veterans are going to start committing domestic terrorism but the militias would be crazy not to target a group of people with weapons training who are desensitized to killing people and often hold political viewpoints to the right of the average citizen.

Idiots...

2009-04-16T01:39:00.001-04:00

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/15/tea-bag-toss-ends-white-house-protest/

How do you do something like this and not end up in prison? They didn't even have a permit to dump the stupid tea bags in the park, what did they think would happen if they tried throwing them towards the White House? They're lucky they didn't get shot.

Use the Nuclear Option...

2009-03-18T18:50:00.000-04:00

http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/561612.aspx

It begins. The Republicans gave the Dems no end of crap when they blocked Bush's judicial nominees. Now that Obama's in office of course all bets are off. They'll lie and say the nominees are all liberal zealots (though they didn't have any problems with Bush nominating nothing but far right-wing conservatives), but everyone knows they just want to block everything Obama does.

The Death of Intellectual Conservatism...

2009-03-08T18:17:00.001-04:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/fashion/08conserve.html?hp?no_interstitial

It's pretty pathetic when one of the top intellectuals in the conservative/Republican movement is a 14 year old boy. I really hope he's just brainwashed by his parents and will eventually grow out of it because if he isn't, if he's actually this jaded and this anti-social at 14, he's going to grow up to be a complete ass.

Jonathan retorted, “Now that I’m a political pundit, I have the ability to influence people. I have to think about it!”

This would never happen in the liberal movement. I have nothing against 14 year olds, many of them will eventually grow up to be very influential. That being said, there is no reason for an entire movement to be waiting with baited breath for the next pronouncement from someone who isn't even in High School yet. Is your movement so wanting for any intelligence that you have to resort to this? That this kid has more influence than people who have been working in government for years and have actual firsthand knowledge?

Doug, a computer systems integrator, and Marla, a sales representative and former actress who teaches drama and speech to middle-school students, have been home-schooling their bright, curious son since the sixth grade.

That explains a lot. Why send your kid to school where he might learn to respect all people when you can keep him home and control every thought that ever enters his head?

Although the Krohns are conservative, they say Jonathan’s passion for politics is largely his.

Sure they are. Maybe they've even managed to convince themselves of this but it's just not so. He's home schooled and they're both staunch conservatives. He didn't just wake up one day and realize he hated the poor. They've been drumming this into his head since birth and they've been keeping him isolated with home schooling so he wouldn't dare realize the error of his ideology.

Jonathan said he became a political enthusiast at 8, after hearing about a Democratic filibuster on judicial nominations. “I thought, ‘Who goes to work saying, ‘I’m going to filibuster today?’ ” he said.

So I assume he's furious about the constant Republican threats to filibuster essential bills. I can only imagine the fury with which they will stall and obstruct when Obama's first judicial nominee comes up for a vote.

He still has the zeal of a missionary. His voice rising to a wobbly squeak, he grabs any opening to press the cause. “Barack Obama is the most left-wing president in my lifetime,” he said.

He was barely out of diapers when Bush assumed the Presidency. There should be a certain age limit below which you can't say "in my lifetime".

Mr. Krohn buried his face in his hands. “Oh, Jonathan,” he sighed.

Even his parents are ashamed of him. They can't talk though, they created this monster. I hope they're happy when he's leading some militia or bombing abortion clinics.

Anti-Democratic...

2009-02-22T18:12:00.001-05:00

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1880977,00.html

Yes, please, get them all off the bench. Their absence would do more to advance the judicial system than pretty much anything else. If they value the opinions of some ex-Nazi in a dress and pointy hat over democracy they should resign immediately.

The Catholic Church has always been anti-Democracy. There's no trace of it in the Church itself. In their view Democracy is so messy after all, for when people have the freedom to make up their own mind, they sometimes make decisions that disagree with the Pope. We can't have that, can we? It's nice that they've issued a statement that so encapsulates this fact that anyone with a love for Democracy would have to be a complete moron not to understand it. If you love Democracy you cannot be a Catholic, that should seal it pretty well.

Bipartisanship...

2009-02-14T12:29:00.002-05:00

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/13/schneider.bipartisanship/index.html

It's not Obama's fault he can't get any bipartisan cooperation. The Republicans have decided that since the American people voted them out they're going to take their ball and go home. They've promised to bring Congress to a standstill by filibustering every single piece of legislation to come through. That doesn't sound bipartisan to me.

Obama listened to the Republicans concerns, perhaps too much, and made changes to the bill to try to satisfy them. What he didn't realize is that they don't want to be satisfied. They want to obstruct the business of the country at every opportunity. He could have made the bill nothing but tax cuts and they still would have tried to torpedo it. That's what they do. They don't actually have anything to run on in 2010, no ideas that might appeal to America, so they're going to make sure nothing passes in the next two years and then run on the idea that the Democrats didn't do anything. It didn't work for them in 2008 but then again the Republicans have always been the party of trying old failed ideas over and over again hoping they'll eventually work. If they had any new ideas they'd be Democrats.

As for Gregg, he volunteered for the position. This is quite suspicious for someone who once voted to abolish the Commerce Dept. He only wanted the job so he could run the census and make sure the Republicans won a bunch of extra seats. Once that was taken away there was really no reason for him to stay.

"All the talk about bipartisanship that we have heard over the last several months went down the drain," House Republican leader John Boehner complained on Friday.

Nice try there Boner. You have to give bipartisanship to get bipartisanship. The reason this didn't work out in a bipartisan way was because the Republicans didn't want it to turn out that way. They behaved in a hyper-partisan way and now they want to bitch about the Dems. It doesn't work that way. As far as the Republicans are concerned, bipartisanship means they get everything they want and Dems get nothing. That may have worked when they ruled the Congress with an iron fist but there's a new Sheriff in town.

No Do-Overs...

2009-02-03T19:07:00.001-05:00

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/02/is-coleman-aiming-for-a-do-over-election.php

Coleman should not be allowed a do-over. He only wants it because his first and second attempts to steal the election (first during the actual election, second during the recount) failed. He shouldn't be allowed another chance to subvert the wishes of the people. The people of Minnesota have spoken. That should be that. They should seat Al Franken now.

Desperation...

2009-02-03T19:00:00.001-05:00

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/18324.html

Wow, they must be desperate if they're relying on this undereducated rube to save their party.

Hack...

2009-01-29T18:20:00.001-05:00

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/29/weather-channel-founder-blasts-gore-global-warming-campaign/

I'm sure Gore is heartbroken that this hack disapproves of his anti-global warming advocacy. How do you go from being the founder of the Weather Channel to being a weatherman in a second rate market? Perhaps he did it by being completely wrong about everything and seemingly knowing nothing about the climate despite supposedly being a scientist whose job involves the climate.

I really think the station he works for should consider what impact his writings have on their reputation and think about firing him. He has no right to post his rantings on the station's website.

I guess this is why Gore is a Nobel Peace Prize winning hero and Coleman is a meteorologist in San Diego.

About Time...

2009-01-24T17:37:00.001-05:00

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/23/obama.abortion/index.html

It's about time. This rule shouldn't have been instituted in the first place. In a country that grants women control over their bodies, it's the ultimate injustice to make sure women in other countries don't enjoy similar rights. Figures it was instituted by Reagan.

I guess it's good not to antagonize his erstwhile allies in Congress by signing it on the anniversary of Roe but I would have loved it if he could have signed it then just to rub it in the faces of the hateful idiots marching on Washington that day to support returning to deadly back alley abortions. That would have been a sight to behold.

"Not even waiting a week, the new administration has acted to funnel U.S. tax dollars to abortion providers overseas," Rep. Tom Price, R-Georgia, said in a written statement.

What? Was he supposed to wait a week, no doubt leading to deaths in the meantime, just to protect your delicate sensibilities? If he had done it next week they'd have criticized him anyway. They can't stand that the good guys are calling the shots now. Get over it, you lost, don't be a sore loser.

Appropriate name...

2009-01-08T19:34:00.001-05:00

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TOXIC_TOWER_INDICTMENT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-01-06-17-55-26

Hmm, John Galt Corp? How appropriate.

Hypocrite...

2009-01-08T19:04:00.002-05:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28495674/

So much for the loser bowing out gracefully. I thought Norm Coleman was all about getting on with things. I guess that was only relevant when he was "winning".

Braindead policies...

2009-01-08T19:04:00.001-05:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28554801/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28404637/

Not surprising. Israel could get public support on its side so easily but instead they choose to pull shit like this. And they wonder why people have such strong opinions against them.

Laziness...

2008-12-30T22:07:00.002-05:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/america-is-primarily-at-f_b_154285.html

I agree completely with this post by Cenk Uygur of the radio show The Young Turks. The Bush Administration has screwed up a lot of things with its laziness and inability to see both sides of any situation.

Escalation...

2008-12-30T20:48:00.001-05:00

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/12/30/gaza.aid.boat/index.html

Just great. This is what things have come to. Israel is attacking ships trying to save the Palestinians from starvation. I wonder if the British will do anything about the intentional ramming of a ship flying the flag of a British territory, I wouldn't hold my breath. Anyone want to guess what would happen if an Iranian boat intentionally rammed a British flagged ship?

Idiots...

2008-12-24T20:48:00.001-05:00

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,471744,00.html

"I said I have a problem with saying 'Happy Holidays,'" Thomas told FOXNews.com. "The world ... groups Christmas with other holidays, and that's offensive to me as a Christian."

How dare the company not insult its non-Christian customers. Their job is to make their customers happy plain and simple, they can't accommodate every angry bigot on their staff.

She was probably fired for being a jerk to her co-workers. People like this who made unreasonable demands and then complain tend to be horrible co-workers. I'm sure her insubordination was just the icing on the cake.

(Un)Intended Consequences...

2008-12-23T17:33:00.002-05:00

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,471308,00.html

What do you expect? The people of California have made it clear that they consider homosexuals to be less than human. They voted by a healthy margin to remove the civil rights of gays and lesbians. This sort of behavior was bound to happen.

Preparing for the Transition...

2008-12-23T17:33:00.001-05:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rebecca-abrahams/white-house-email-trail-g_b_152965.html

Very suspicious. How convenient that this guy had the goods on Bush/Cheney and now he's dead.

Double Standard...

2008-12-23T17:11:00.001-05:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081223/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_pardons

It's stunning the double standard that's applied to Israel by our country. A private citizen selling weapons to a foreign government without government permission would be considered treason. This isn't the only case either. Israel sank one of our ships for no reason during one of their wars against their neighbors and we didn't do anything to them. Could you imagine what would happen if a country like Egypt or Spain sank one of our ships on purpose?

This man deserved the punishment he received. He died in prison right where he belonged. Pardoning him, even posthumously, is an extreme insult to all the innocents who were killed with his planes.

Idiot...

2008-12-22T20:26:00.000-05:00

http://uk.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUKTRE4BL2FE20081222

What an idiot. Is it any wonder most Catholics don't even listen to this guy?

Too Late...

2008-12-20T13:52:00.000-05:00

http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2008/12/17/lieberman-faces-lowest-approval-numbers-ever/

It would have been great if these people had come to this conclusion BEFORE the damn election. We're stuck with this guy for 5 more years because these idiots took too long to realize what we figured out years ago.

Disappointing Everyone...

2008-12-20T13:50:00.002-05:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/18/pro-lifers-hate-warren-in_n_152042.html

This guy can't please anybody. Tell me again why Obama chose him? The good guys hate him because he's a hateful jerk and the bad guys hate him because he hides his hateful nature behind a nice guy disguise.

Judgmental pricks...

2008-12-20T13:50:00.001-05:00

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,469928,00.html

Considering what the church leadership is doing, I would imagine the congregation is a bunch of judgmental bastards anyway. Who cares what they think. She should just ignore them. As for her kids, I'm sure they know she's a good person. Maybe this will be the thing that finally gets her kids to leave this stupid church.

Equal Treatment...

2008-12-16T17:48:00.000-05:00

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,466606,00.html

Religion should not trump the law. It's one thing for them to eschew technology. It's an entirely other thing for them to build dangerous housing under the cover of religion. There is no reason they shouldn't have to comply with the same building codes everyone else does. What happens when one of their houses falls down and someone dies? Where does it stop with all this? Every religion seems to want to ignore any law they happen to disagree with. We can't run a country when people don't want to follow the rules.

Absurd...

2008-12-16T17:43:00.000-05:00

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,467066,00.html

Forgetting for a second that this guy retired and probably will not be willing to come back, this is a horrible idea on its face. Why should the Democrats allow a Republican to take Obama's seat, giving the Republicans one more vote in the Senate and one more vote for any partisan filibuster? I don't know what this guy is smoking, but I'm sure it's not legal.

Judging by his record, it seems he's one of those self-righteous conservatives that thinks the government should operate on a shoestring budget. He will be a vote against every bill to resolve this economic crisis. Beyond that, he would vote against many components of Obama's legislation including healthcare. Why would the Democrats do that for themselves? It would be like the Republicans appointing Dennis Kucinich to the Senate.

2008-12-16T17:40:00.002-05:00

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,467626,00.html

Sure they did. Far more likely is that he was being a colossal jerk and got offended when someone complained. I do question however why an ultra conservative who thinks people on welfare are lazy would choose social work as a career. It does tend to be a career path chosen by liberals far more than conservatives since liberals are compassionate and conservatives tend to blame people for their problems in life.

The Religious Right Strikes Again...

2008-12-16T17:40:00.001-05:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/14/AR2008121401354.html?hpid=sec-tech

That's the Bush Administration for you. They never miss a chance to allow religion unfair influence on the government. Who gets to determine what is appropriate for children? If they block porn will they block internet gambling? How about websites on controversial topics like abortion? They shouldn't create a system where certain people are made to pay for something that is otherwise free just because they want to engage in legal activity. The people behind these sorts of initiatives seem to think children are the only people worthy of protection but there are those of us out there who don't want to be held to the same standard as a 10 year old.

Thugs...

2008-12-05T15:56:00.000-05:00

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1864616,00.html

These people are thugs plain and simple. They don't want to give an inch to the Palestinians so they can also have a home. Israel spends so much time walling off and punishing Palestinians but these are the people who keep killing Israeli leaders.

Get Rid of Her...

2008-12-05T15:54:00.003-05:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/05/bush-loyal-us-attorney-re_n_148714.html

If she doesn't want to leave on her own Obama should fire her. She may want to stay on in an Obama Administration, no doubt to cause trouble, but the last thing Obama needs is a bunch of Rove disciples ruining his Justice Dept.

Plagarism...

2008-12-05T15:54:00.001-05:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28065488/

So not only are they a horrible band but they're also stealing from other bands?

2008-11-26T23:57:00.001-05:00

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/26/india.attacks/index.html

This is really sad. Unfortunately, terrorism seems a daily concern in India. Hindus killing Muslims and Muslims killing Hindus. I guess our country doesn't care until they start trying to kill our people.

Self-Delusion...

2008-11-24T19:49:00.000-05:00

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/24/colmes-leaving/

I guess he got sick of being Hannity's punching bag.

to develop new and challenging ways to contribute to the growth of the network.

That's cute. Colmes thinks they're going to give him his own show. He was just there to make Hannity look smart.

I’m proud that both Sean (Hannity) and I remained unharmed after sitting side by side, night after night for so many years.”

Oh please, there was no chance of him doing anything to Hannity. He had to ask Hannity's permission to speak.

Jonathan Singer at MyDD is floating Sam Seder as a potential replacement. TVNewser is also conducting a poll of possibilities.

They'll never allow Seder to be on the show. Seder is actually a liberal commentator, as opposed to a stand-up comedian who happens to be a liberal, and would eat Hannity alive.

Rogue...

2008-11-24T19:30:00.000-05:00

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1861524,00.html?xid=rss-topstories

Yeah, let me know how that turns out. Israel is going to end up doing whatever they want to do. They don't care about world peace and, as much as we finance their military adventurism, they don't care what we think either.

Too Little, Too Late...

2008-11-24T19:22:00.001-05:00

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,456460,00.html

It took them long enough. Leave it to the Vatican to be decades behind the times.

Stupid Religious People...

2008-11-21T17:49:00.001-05:00

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/21/national/main4623056.shtml

He should give the money to a secular charity that doesn't reject donors based on arbitrary factors. If this is what they do to people who want to give money, imagine the harassment they dole out to those they "help".

Talking to Yourself...

2008-11-19T18:38:00.001-05:00

http://www.cuatower.com/2008/11/14/cardinal-at-cua-obama-is-%E2%80%98aggressive-disruptive-and-apocalyptic%E2%80%99/

Get back to me when you manage to get at least half of your own followers to listen to what you're saying. Until that point, you're just talking to yourself and nobody is taking you seriously.

Corruption...

2008-11-14T19:13:00.000-05:00

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1858991,00.html

Brought to you by the hyper-corrupt Republican Party and Bush Administration.

Stupid...

2008-11-13T18:35:00.000-05:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7726943.stm

What does Israel think it's accomplishing by punishing all Palestinians for the actions of a small minority? All they're doing is killing people and creating further animosity in the occupied territories.

Stupid Christians and their Stupid Hate...

2008-11-13T18:32:00.000-05:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/opinion/12savage.html?_r=1&em=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1226617673-V1ceR5CYz4oJutpHCq1hEQ

Prop 8 was a horrible decision. Not just for gays but for the entire state of California and for the whole country. At some point this has to stop. I just hope that when this country finally comes to its senses, it's not too late.

World Leadership...

2008-11-13T18:31:00.000-05:00

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,451426,00.html

Such lovely talk for a world leader. He does sound like Dubya.

We can't say anything though, we actually hanged Saddam Hussein.

Hate...

2008-11-13T18:30:00.000-05:00

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,451416,00.html

Oh please, Islam isn't the only religion that forbids usury. Companies providing a service that a large segment of the population may be interested in does not equal stoning people for adultery. I swear there are a lot of people in this country who want to make it impossible for Muslims to live in peace.

Irrelevant...

2008-11-12T19:39:00.002-05:00

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/11/11/catholic-bishops-vow-confront-obama-administration-abortion/

How is this all of a sudden an issue? The Democrats have been strongly in favor of women's rights for decades. Are they sore that most of their members completely ignored them and voted for the right guy against their clear orders?

No...

2008-11-12T19:39:00.001-05:00

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/12/palin-in-obamas-administration/

Please God no!!!

I know this was just Palin being Palin and trying to pretend she's still relevant. I know she was just talking completely out of turn about something nobody's ever even approached her about. But even the thought of this makes my skin crawl. She should go back to Alaska and never leave again!

Wishful Thinking...

2008-11-11T11:52:00.002-05:00

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/10/sanford.conservatives/index.html

Editor's Note: Mark Sanford, a Republican, is governor of South Carolina.

This is a disclaimer so you're not tempted to believe a word he says.

Some on the left will say our electoral losses are a repudiation of our principles of lower taxes, smaller government and individual liberty. But Tuesday was not in fact a rejection of those principles -- it was a rejection of Republicans' failure to live up to those principles.

Well, that's funny, because the Republicans spent 2 years painting Barack Obama as a tax and spend ultra liberal in the media. They spared no expense to convince people that Obama would raise taxes, increase the size of government and take away peoples' guns. Meanwhile, they ran John McCain as an anti-tax crusader who would freeze all government programs, eliminate Medicare and Social Security and allow toddlers to buy automatic assault rifles previously restricted to law enforcement and the military. Despite all this, the American people voted for Barack. I don't think they were confused on who was the liberal and who was the ultra-conservative candidate.

Republicans have campaigned on the conservative themes of lower taxes, less government and more freedom -- they just haven't governed that way. America didn't turn away from conservatism, they turned away from many who faked it.

That's odd since they elected the candidate who was almost universally labeled by the media as the "most liberal Presidential candidate in history". It seems the American people wanted a liberal.

Mark keeps mentioning "freedom" and "individual liberty". I guess that only matters if you're not gay or a woman and you don't want to smoke pot to alleviate a medical condition.

I really hope the Republicans keep running as unabashed conservatives. Contrary to what Mark says, the American people are quite aware of the conservative identity of the GOP. Whether they like it or not, Americans quite enjoy their Social Security, their social programs and their rights to sleep with whoever they want. The American people saw John McCain running to the right of George W. Bush and they wanted nothing to do with it.

Lieberman...

2008-11-07T19:41:00.000-05:00

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_11/015575.php

Joe Lieberman really lives in his own little world, doesn't he? Who cares what he wants? He's lucky they haven't already kicked him out of the caucus. There is no way in hell he deserves to retain his chairmanship. He should have lost it the second he left the Party. Now that he's further insulted the Democratic Party by endorsing McCain and other down ticket Republicans he is faced with two choices. He can remain in the majority party and receive another committee assignment or he can join the minority and take whatever they give him. I can guarantee he won't get anything better from them. Bottom line, if he doesn't like the overly generous offer they're giving him he's free to leave. They don't need him. But he knows he can't leave because he needs the Dems more than they need him, and that eats him up inside because he considers himself the most important person in the world.

Stupid Bayh...

2008-11-07T19:20:00.001-05:00

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/11/07/lieberman-bayh/

I'm shocked. Bayh is just as much of a problem as Lieberman is. Both want to turn the Democratic Party into Republican light. I'm so glad Obama didn't make the mistake of naming him VP. Can you imagine if he were Vice President-elect saying stupid shit like this?

Republican Lies...

2008-11-07T18:17:00.000-05:00

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/06/emanuel.reaction/index.html

Where I come from this wouldn't be considered a "mixed reaction". It would be considered sour grapes from Obama's political enemies. Obama could have picked Joshua Bolten and the Republicans would have found a reason to bitch about it. I don't see any Democrats criticizing the choice. There are even some Republicans who say it's a great choice. The Republicans are mad because he's a great choice, not because he's a bad choice. They want a pushover who they can beat into submission. The last thing they want is someone who has huge amounts of experience and a reputation as a brutal enforcer. That's exactly what Obama needs. The fact that they're so vocal about it proves why he's such a good choice, they're literally pissing their pants at the idea of having to deal with him. I think that's a great endorsement indeed.

Betrayal...

2008-11-07T18:16:00.000-05:00

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081107/ap_on_go_co/lieberman_republicans

This would be the ultimate betrayal. Especially when the Democrats allowed Lieberman to retain his seniority and committee chairmanships despite his leaving the party and endorsing the Republican Party's candidates. I don't know why the Republicans would want him though. It's one thing to have him on your side but allowing him into their caucus would be a mistake. Just like a cheating husband, if he cheated on the Dems he'll do the same thing to the Reps as soon as it behooves him.

Disrespect...

2008-11-06T17:08:00.000-05:00

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27573350/

Evidently Israel doesn't understand irony. Either that or they don't have any respect at all for the Muslim citizens of their country...yeah...that might be it.

Loser...

2008-11-04T19:48:00.001-05:00

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,446704,00.html

I don't think anyone will be losing any sleep based on the opinion of Carrie Underwood.

Crazy...

2008-11-03T21:43:00.000-05:00

http://mideast.blogs.time.com/2008/10/31/travails-of-an-indiscreet-assassin/

Only in Israel would the people make a hero of a guy who murdered a Prime Minister in cold blood. Even Americans who may have disliked Kennedy mourned his death. Even the most pro-Confederate town in the South doesn't have a statue of John Wilkes Booth in the middle of town.

Double Standard...

2008-11-02T20:52:00.000-05:00

http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2008/11/neo-nazis-obama-and-real-domestic.html

If you want a perfect example of the double standard, just look at the Fort Dix plot case. Those guys were no more well prepared, and stood no greater chance of accomplishing their goal, than the skinheads who plotted to kill Obama. The government is ignoring the threats from the skinheads while moving forward full speed with the Fort Dix case using testimony from a bought witness.

Illegal...

2008-11-01T12:53:00.000-04:00

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/241682.php

This should be illegal. Using government information on an immigration case to boost your candidate's chances is immoral and certainly below what a President should be doing.

Republicans Don't Believe in Voting...

2008-10-31T18:37:00.000-04:00

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/oct/31/na-more-early-voting-draws-boos/news-politics/

This isn't surprising. It's always been the position of the Republicans that that people voting is bad for them. They want to make sure as few people as possible vote so they have a chance of winning. I'm glad Crist stood up to his party, he seems a lot better than Jeb Bush. Jeb would have been the one fighting the early voting.

Zealots...

2008-10-31T18:34:00.000-04:00

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ColdandFluNews/story?id=6150482&page=1

People who refuse to vaccinate their children are super crazy. This just proves it further. That they would kill a doctor, or even threaten it, just because that doctor is doing his job is absurd. I can understand the need to blame the condition on someone else is strong. The last thing these people want to admit is that they might have had something to do with their child's autism. Since they can't really explain it, and there's no clear reason why autism happens, they want to lash out and blame the doctor. That doesn't excuse death threats.